Prairie pours in 8 goals to bounce back against Solon

SOLON - Thirteen hours after being shut out the Cedar Rapids Prairie girls soccer team was the picture of offensive domination in an 8-2 victory over 1A No. 15 Solon.

The Hawks dropped a 3-0 game to MVC foe Cedar Falls Friday night, and while the difference in competitive level is evident with a 1A team, Prairie was formidable. Junior Cayla Renwick led the parade with four goals in the first 53 minutes. She was given the rest of the windy, cold day off.

'No,” Renwick said, laughing at being asked whether she'd ever scored four times in a game. 'I don't know. Everybody was giving me good balls I guess.”

Renwick scored first on pass from senior Sophie Ortiz that left her one on one against the keeper. Her second came close in as she went through three defenders, two of whom fell down, to create her shot. She beat defenders for her final two goals, one on a 20-yard shot and the other on a run out.

'We've been practicing that a lot, and those through balls are our favorite way to score,” Ortiz said.

Coming into the game Prairie had scored 17 goals in 10 games and was shut out four times, all against 3A teams.

'I think we have a lot of young talent that really stepped up today,” Ortiz said. 'Really the whole season we did a good job connecting in the midfield and getting the ball up. But our final, attacking third is trouble. I don't know what it was; our confidence was up today.”

The Hawks (4-7) held possession in their attacking end almost all of the first half. It didn't change against the wind in the second half. Other goals came from Ortiz, Maggie Lampe, Alexa Martin and Sophia Meier.

Solon (7-5) managed a goal in each half by stalwarts Josie Durr and Nichole Oberthien, but it was a struggle to mount an attack. Solon was hurt by two key injuries. Center back Ali Diersen went out in the 11th minute, and Durr, the leading scorer, missed the last 20 minutes with a back injury suffered when she was flipped and a yellow card was issued.